FrancoPrussianwar.com
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Comparisons of the Armies
492,585 active 417,366 Garde Mobile The French Army comprised approximately 400,000 regular soldiers, some of them veterans of the Crimean War, Algeria, Second Italian War of Independence, and in Mexico supporting the Second Mexican Empire. This strength would increase to 662,000 on full mobilisation with the recall of reservists, with another 400,000 in the loosely organised Garde Mobile, which would require time to train. Unlike the Prussians, who relied on universal conscription, the French relied on long serving professional army . A soldier signed on for a seven year term and was offered bonuses to reenlist . The French thought their veterans would be better in the field than the green recruits of the Prussian army. The French soldiers had many weaknesses such as lack of discipline, alcoholism
the mitrailleuse The Chassepot rifle and the mitrailleuse The French also had one of the world's first machine gun, the mitrailleuse which could fire 100-200 rounds a minute.Because of the novelty of the weapon and lack of experience of its use, it was mounted on an artillery gun carriage and grouped in batteries in a similar fashion to cannon. Tactics With these two weapons, why did the French not sweep the Prussians from the field as the Prussians had at Koniggratz ? One reason was is that they did not use these weapons effectively. The French battle plan was to mass men in a defensive position and deliver a withering wall of fire - the feu de bataillon . French commanders were not given much leeway in the battlefields as the Prussian officers had, who could improvise better. The Prussians swarmed their open with attacks of smaller groups of men from many different positions seeking to outflank the enemy .. The Prussians also negated the French superiority of their rifles with their superior breech-loading steel Krupp cannons . The artillery could not be re-equipped as the money was not voted by the Assembly, and was still equipped with muzzle-loading, although rifled, Lahitte '4-pounder' (actual weight of shot: 4 kg / 8.4 lb) guns, with an effective range of 2,800 metres . The French also tended to mass their artillery in the field, while the Prussians were much more mobile with their artillery . Railway The French railway system was not as organized for war compared to the Prussians . The Prussians had a special staff to plan and synchronize the movement of troops . Cavalry The Prussians had reformed their cavalry service, no longer letting it be the field of the elite, but opening it up to advancement by merit and using it for skirmishing and screening . The French still made use of heavy cavalry with the Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War had shown to be outdated with the longer range of rifles and cannons . In practice, the French army, which had undertaken urgent reforms as a result of the outcome and lessons of the Austro-Prussian War, was nevertheless crippled by its poor administration and lack of coherent planning. Although the French Chief of Staff, Maréchal Edmond Leboeuf, had stated that the French Army was ready for war, "down to the last gaiter button", as the fighting began, many of its formations were understrength as 100,000 reservists were living hand-to-mouth at depots and railway stations as they tried to find their regiments; and among various deficiencies in supplies and equipment, most of the medical supplies were still at the Invalides in Paris, awaiting transport.Throughout the war, the movements of French formations were to be badly directed and confusedThe Navies At the beginning of the war, the French could claim to have one of the best navies in the world . It had pioneered new developments in steam, shell-guns and armour . It had 49 ironclads and 9 corvettesarmed with 16cm and 19cm guns . Against this the Prussians only had 5 ironclads. The Konig Wilhelm, was more powerful than the French ironclads .When the war broke out, most of the French navy was used to transport troops from Algeria to France.
The Prussian Army was composed not of regulars but conscripts and reservists. Service was compulsory for all men of military age, thus Prussia and its North and South German allies could mobilize and field some 1.2 million soldiers in time of war, which it did within 18 days of mobilization. The sheer number of soldiers available made possible the mass-encirclement and destruction of entire enemy formations. Every abled bodied man had to serve in the army for three years, then he was released to the reserves for four years and after that he was on call to the national guard for five more years . Compared to the French, the Prussian soldiers were better educated with compulsory primary education that was not the law in France till after the war .
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The French Army of the Franco-Prussian War A great illustrated reference on the history, organisation, uniforms and equipment of the French Army
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